Do I Go or Do I Stay?
by QuietThunderM.E
Summary: In the small city of Nibelheim, it is senior year for Cloud Strife in high school. Tifa Lockhart, the girl he has known since childhood, is sad when he tells her about his future to attend Mid U in Midgar while she plans to stay after high school. After being distant from each other for a long time, they spend time together which makes Cloud think twice about his decision to leave.
1. Chapter 1

**Do I Go or Do I Stay?**

** Hey guys! This is my second fanfic that I will be writing and I plan to make it as long as possible. I love Final Fantasy VII. I love the game and the movie, so I was inspired to write this. I am a Cloud and Tifa fan, otherwise known as CloTi. I decided to change things up a little bit. Nibelheim is originally a village, but I decided to make it a small city, so it will of course have a good 100,000 people in it, just to give you a picture of how big it is. Midgar is far away, and is one of the mega cities on Gaia. There, resides Midgar University, which is where Cloud wants to attend college. So, this story has nothing to do with the storylines of the game itself, Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus. It is completely made up; an alternate universe, if you want to call it that. Anyways, hope you enjoy, and of course, favorite, follow and review! **

** Disclaimer: **_All characters, terms, cities, etc. are owned by Square Enix. I have no ownership over them. _

I

Today was the first day of senior year of high school for a certain young man. This young adult has blonde hair that spikes up and defies gravity, with bright blue eyes and a very well-toned muscular body. His name is Cloud Strife. He is a shy person and reserved. However, he is admired by one girl who has known him since her early childhood. Her name is Tifa Lockhart. She has brown eyes, brunette hair that shines brightly under the sun, and a body that any woman could kill for, possessing the most bountiful curves that remind you of the hills of Italy. Her posterior is a sight that many males prefer to gape at, and her legs are long, slender and toned. She is also quite endowed; also another sight that the boys drool over. Many guys have tried to win this girl's heart, but she would never let any of them have it. The only person she could probably ever consider giving it to is the one boy who she has known since her early childhood. I am sure we can all guess who that is.

Cloud woke up to the annoying blaring of his alarm clock that signaled the start of the day. Aggravated by the sound, Cloud reached out his hand and crushed the clock with his fist, while maintaining his sleeping form on his comfortable bed. He slowly got up, rubbing his eyes and taking in his surroundings. The morning sunlight shone through the curtains at his window, providing him sight in the once dark bedroom. He yawned out loud, stretching out his upper body before tossing his feet to the side of the bed and standing up slowly, cracking the bones in his spine as he did so. He looked outside to gaze across the street of the neighborhood that he lived in. The house directly across from Cloud's housed the girl that he had a slight crush on, but one that was slowly disappearing. Cloud had plans to attend Midgar University after high school, thus, meaning he would leave Nibelheim and his friends, including her: Tifa Lockhart. He scanned her bedroom window subconsciously to see any signs of life, but didn't see anything. Once realizing what he was doing, he shook his head and turned around to walk to his bathroom.

"Man, I can't believe it's my senior year already…" Cloud spoke softly as he slowly walked to his bathroom, being very courteous to not wake up his mother. Turning on the light in the bathroom, Cloud glanced at himself and decided that he needed to shave. After doing so, he brushed his teeth and put on deodorant. He had already taken a shower the night before, so he proceeded to his bedroom once more to get himself dressed. He opened up his top drawer to reveal a few pairs of white socks. He grabbed a pair and moved onto the next drawer, revealing long sleeve t-shirts, short sleeves, v-necks and tank tops. Grabbing a white tank top, he moved onto the last drawer, consisting of shorts, sweatpants and jeans. He grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans and got himself dressed. Cloud already had a black wife-beater and green underwear on his muscular form. He headed back to the bathroom, with the purpose of using the mirror to look at himself. Cloud never thought himself to be good-looking. He thought he had somewhat of a baby face. He flexed his well-sized arms to reveal thick biceps and triceps. Cloud had a great muscular figure; one that was not skinny or bulky, but just big and just right. Average, if you must. He was a good athlete, which kept him in good shape. Spraying a few shots of cologne on his body, he went back to his bedroom to get his backpack, which was already packed with what he might need for his first day back to school. He heard footsteps a few minutes later that went downstairs. He then smelled food being cooked. He could only conclude that it was his mother. Who else would it be? His father had passed away when he was young, and he had no siblings. It was just him and his mother in this household. He put on his Nike hightops that were mostly red and white, with a bit of black. He grabbed his Bose headphones and his iPhone and walked out of his room to head downstairs to the kitchen to go eat breakfast.

When he approached the kitchen, he took in the sight of the pancakes that were sitting on a plate after being cooked on a pan. There were also scrambled eggs and bacon to accompany the pancakes.

"Morning sweetie," Mrs. Strife greeted Cloud.

"Morning mom," Cloud addressed back.

"Would you like some breakfast?"

"Sure. Thanks mom."

"You're most welcome dear." Cloud grabbed himself three pancakes, a scoop of scrambled eggs and two pieces of bacon. He poured himself a glass of orange juice from the fridge and poured syrup on his pancakes. He sat at the small dining table in the dining room and started eating the wonderfully cooked food. Only then did Cloud realize that he would have to brush his teeth again.

"So, are you excited about this year being your last year of high school?"

"Hell yeah!"

"It's just surprising to know that my son will be going to college next year! I can't believe it! I miss you being a baby. Oh, I hope you have fun at Mid U."

"I can't believe it either. And thanks, I hope I do, too!"

"So, have you talked to Tifa lately?"

"No, not recently. Why?"

"Oh, just wondering."

"Okay."

"I think she will be a little heartbroken after she finds out that you'll be leaving to go to Mid U. I feel a little bad for her. I really like that nice young lady. I never really understood why she hasn't become your girlfriend yet." At the word _girlfriend_, Cloud nearly choked on the last bite of food he took. He started to cough loudly. Mrs. Strife walked into the dining room and started patting his back. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, mom. I'm f-f-fine." *cough*

"Okay. Well, it's almost eight, you need to start heading to school. I'll take your plate for you. Tell Tifa I said hi."

"Will do mom. Love you."

"I love you, too." Cloud walked back upstairs to brush his teeth again. He headed back downstairs to grab his backpack from the dining room. He put it on his back and took out his iPhone. He plugged in his headphones and selected a song.The hip hop beat got him going as he walked out the door and started walking to school. His house was close to Nibelheim High; about a ten minute walk. He didn't notice that a certain brunette had left her house at the same time as he left his house and was calling his name. She walked across the street and approached Cloud. She tapped his back, which caught his attention.

Cloud turned around to see who had tapped his back. He then caught the sight of those beautiful brown eyes. He would know those eyes anywhere and who they belonged to. He loved looking into those eyes. However, his moment was short-lived when he started feeling awkward.

"Oh… h-hi," Cloud stuttered as he took off his headphones.

"Hey," came Tifa's simple reply. She smiled brightly, making Cloud admire her facial features even more. He felt awkward around her because they had not talked during the entire duration of summer, not that they ever talked much before. All of their greetings consisted of simple 'heys' and 'byes'. He had a slight crush on her, but never thought to make a move due to his lack of confidence. He didn't think he had a chance with her. The two teens had kept walking, a somewhat uncomfortable silence falling between them. It was Tifa who broke it first.

"So… how was your summer?"

"It was okay, I guess…" Cloud said softly. His posture became a bit stiff as he walked. Tifa took note of this and made the effort to make him feel more comfortable around her. She thought it was really cute that he acted this way.

"What did you do?"

"Just run and spar, spent time with my mom… you?"

"I went hiking with my father for the first time in years. We had an enjoyable time together. We also fixed some things around the house and… yeah. That's pretty much it."

"Well… sounds like fun."

"Yeah…" Again, the silence came. Cloud was wishing that the school was closer so that he could depart from the conversation and be on his way faster, but at the same time, he wished that he talked to Tifa a bit more. Tifa was searching for a new topic for them to discuss. Then, an idea came to mind. "I hope we have some of the same classes!"

"Yeah…" Cloud tried his best to sound enthusiastic. Thankfully, the two-story school was finally in view. The two had been walking for what seemed like forever to Cloud. "Well, see ya."

"Bye." Cloud and Tifa headed their separate ways into the school. Cloud started to walk to his homeroom, the first class of the day he had where you could get unfinished homework done if you had any, study or just have free time. He sat a random desk in the middle of the classroom. A few minutes later, the first bell rang over the intercom, signaling students to start heading to their homerooms. Cloud peeked around his homeroom as other people started walking in. He recognized a few of them from either last year's homeroom or his classes that he took. A few seconds later, a figure with raven- black hair that also stuck up and defied gravity, with a muscular figure like Cloud's and blue eyes, walked in and noticed the blonde.

"Cloud!" Zack Fair called out. "Hey buddy, how's it going?!"

Cloud smiled at his good friend. "Hey Zack, nothing much. You?"

"Oh, nothing. Well, except for breaking up with Aerith. I hope to get her back. In the meantime, I'm free." Zack looked to a random girl and winked at her, causing the girl to blush. Cloud laughed at his friend's act.

"Hey, stop that. You know, I bet you that's why Aerith broke up with you. She probably couldn't stand you doing that."

"Hey, I don't think that's true."

"Well I think it is. I'm right, I win."

"Whatever…" Cloud smirked at Zack which caused him to just sigh and sit down behind Cloud. Before the last bell rang, the two saw two girls walk in, which they both instantly recognized as Tifa and Aerith Gainsborough. Tifa smiled at Cloud and Zack while Aerith did the same, only with a little uneasiness to her expression.

"Hey Cloud!" Tifa exclaimed. "So we are in the same homeroom after all!"

"Yeah…" Cloud replied. Tifa giggled and flicked Cloud's forehead with her finger.

"You silly boy. You are so shy." Cloud blushed at her sentence and tried to hide his face from her view. Again, she giggled and walked to the desk in front of Cloud. "Mind if I sit here?" Cloud only nodded. She smiled back at him and sat down. Aerith sat in the desk next to Tifa on her right.

"Hi Cloud," Aerith spoke.

"Hey Aerith," Cloud replied. "How have you been?"

"Just fine… you?"

"Great, I guess."

"Did you have a good summer?"

"Yeah, I did. You?"

"I had a great summer! So what are your plans for college?"

"Well, I plan to leave Nibelheim to attend Mid U in Midgar." At this phrase, Tifa looked down towards the ground to hide the sadness on her face.

"Really? So soon?" Cloud could hear the sadness in Tifa's voice.

"Well… I hope you have fun out there!" Zack commented.

"Thanks Zack," Cloud responded. Soon, the bell rang and the teacher walked in. While the teacher was introducing himself and going over some things about the school year, Zack poked Cloud's back with his pencil.

"Psst, Cloud," Zack whispered.

"What?" Cloud whispered back.

"So, have you and Tifa been talking?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. You know you were crushing on her back in the day."

"Yeah, and that _was _back in the day. For crying out loud, she's right in front of me!"

"Hey, I know. You know you like her."

"Stop, Zack." Cloud then turned to face back at the teacher as Zack kept bugging Cloud about him liking Tifa. Cloud didn't mind though; it was just his way of showing he cared about him, although he thought he was just being nosy. The four went through their first half of the day as lunch came around. Cloud and Zack sat at a table together with hamburgers, fries and Gatorade on their trays. For about the one-thousandth time, Zack bugged Cloud again about his crush.

"Okay. You know what? Fine. I like Tifa." Zack grinned victoriously as he threw his hand down onto the table and laughed.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!"

"Now that I've said so, will you stop bugging me about it?"

"No."

"Goddamn it."

"Look, you're leaving town, man. Without even giving thought to her."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on. I'm pretty sure she feels something for you, man."

"… I don't know. It would be weird to just go to her and tell her how I feel now when I could've done it a long time ago."

"It's not too late. You still got your whole life ahead of ya."

"I made my decision, and that's that. Now, can I eat?" Zack just sighed in defeat, looking down at his tray of food as he picked up his hamburger and started eating, Cloud doing the same. A few minutes later, Tifa and Aerith approached the table.

"Hey, mind if we sit here?" Aerith asked.

"No, of course not," Zack answered. Aerith produced a small smile and sat down next to Tifa, who sat next to Cloud. The quartet ate their food in silence for a few minutes. There was a bit of uneasiness between Zack and Aerith.

"You know, we should hang out sometime soon. Maybe we can go eat somewhere, go skiing at Mt. Nibel, whatever," Aerith spoke, breaking the awkward silence.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Tifa exclaimed. "When?"

"Maybe sometime next week?" Zack proposed.

"Sure. Works for me," Cloud butted in.

"Alright, sweet." The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Cloud and Zack bid their goodbyes to Tifa and Aerith as they headed to their next class that they had together, which was calculus. Unfortunately, they had homework on the first day. While Cloud worked on his homework, he started to get a little frustrated as he somewhat worked through some of the difficult problems. Zack noticed his frustration and decided to butt in.

"Need help?" Zack offered.

"Yeah, man. I don't get any of this shit," Cloud answered back with aggravation thick in his voice.

"Calm down, buddy. Let me see what you got." Cloud showed Zack his homework. Zack explained in detail what was going on, which only confused Cloud more.

"Dude, not even Einstein would friggin' understand you," Cloud complained.

"Hey, I'm doing my best here," Zack pleaded. "Besides, it's Einstein that nobody understands."

"No you're not. Your explanations suck ass. Damn it, man… This is hard…"

"You know… you should ask her for help."

"Ask who for help?"

"Tifa."

"Oh, no. Not again."

"What do you mean, 'Oh not again?' She's good at this stuff you know."

"Really? And how do you know?"

"Well that's what I heard from Aerith anway. Don't worry, I didn't lay a finger on your girl or anything."

"Sh-shut up."

"Hahaha! But seriously, ask her for help."

"I'm not asking her for help."

"Come on, man. You're struggling, and you say my explanations suck-"

"They do!"

"Well then stop complaining and go to her and ask for help! Besides, that's a good way for you two to spend time together."

"Damn it, I already told you, I am not asking her for help. How many times do I have to repeat that to you? How about in Spanish? No estoy pidiendo su para ayuda."

"Huh?"

"Italian? Swahili?"

"Dude. Just shut up."

"Stop talking to me about it, then."

"I won't until I see you get you shy ass over to her house and ask her for help. Just trust me man. Plus, it'll benefit you along the way. I'll bet lots of gil on that."

"I'm not asking her for help."

"Sigh… just keep telling yourself that…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Do I Go or Do I Stay?**

** Hi guys! I am back with another chapter! Since I love typing this stuff up, I am going to do a late night type fest and get a few chapters in tonight and tomorrow before I have to leave to go to this jazz camp that I signed up for. I will not have internet for the entire week, so I will not be able to update. I wanted to get a start on this story before I leave for camp, so if you finish reading what has been added to this story, feel free to read my other fanfic, An End, Once and For All. Just a heads up, it is my first fanfic, and there is a slight problem with too many characters. I am in the process of fixing it right now, so please do not be a cabron and post a flame about it. I got one, and one is enough. I wasn't mad at the person who submitted the review, in fact I'm happy that he posted that review. I was trying out an idea, which didn't work out too well, so I will fix it. Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter! I, myself was very satisfied with what I wrote. I may introduce a few other characters into the story from FFVII, but they won't have as big as a role as the main four characters of the story. A shout out to the four peeps that have reviewed the story, I enjoyed reading all of your comments; I had to read them twice before I confirmed that you enjoyed what I wrote. Anyways, onwards!**

II

The first day of school had finally ended, signaled by the automated school bell that rang over the intercom. While everyone piled out of the classroom, Cloud and Zack had stayed behind to finish up their homework from other classes. Thankfully, it only took them about a half an hour tops to finish their work. Zack stood up from his seat after packing up his backpack and proceeded to walk out of the classroom. The noise had caught Cloud's attention, making him turn his head to follow Zack out of the room.

"I'm out bro," Zack called out. "Let me know how everything goes," Zack spoke after, and giving a wink in Cloud's direction. Cloud just rolled his eyes and proceeded to packing up all of his materials into his bag. When he finished, he stood up from his seat and walked out of the classroom. He walked to the front entrance of the school before walking out onto the fairly large campus that surrounded the two-story school. Cloud took in a breath of the fresh morning air before he reached into his bag and pulled out his headphones, followed by his iPhone before plugging the jack into the phone. He selected a song to get him going.

A few minutes passed by as Cloud approached an intersection where if he kept going straight, he would soon enter his neighborhood and be home in a matter of five minutes. The road to the left led to downtown. Cloud could see the towering buildings in the distance as a feeling he couldn't shake off started to rise in his stomach. His objective was getting home. It was a simple matter of walking across the street, which he could've done now, since the signal was given. But, he couldn't move; only his head did. He didn't know why he couldn't just simply keep moving forward as he scanned the road ahead of him, and the road to the left of him. He thought about it for a few seconds; then it dawned on him. He _really _was contemplating the idea of giving Tifa a call and see if he could help her with his calculus homework. He was cursing himself under his breath as he just stood still at the intersection. There was an ongoing battle in his mind, where it was a matter of _call Tifa _or _don't call Tifa. _It was overwhelming him, to the point where he felt a bead of sweat forming on his forehead and started to fall down his face, all the while taking in shorter breaths.

"Damn you Zack," Cloud muttered to himself and pulled out his iPhone. He accessed his contacts and went down to the L's. He didn't have many contacts on his phone; in fact, there was only one contact under the L's. And that contact was the girl he reluctantly touched the name of which activated the call. Her name appeared at the top of the screen, with the controls appearing in the middle while the background contained a picture of her. Cloud glanced at the photo before slowly putting the phone up to his right ear and waited for Tifa to answer.

"Hello?" came a soft, angelic voice at the other end of line.

"Hey Tifa," Cloud responded.

"Oh, hey Cloud! What's up?"

"I… I…" Cloud knew what to ask, but it seemed really hard to do so, and he didn't know why.

"Hmm?"

"I… I-I-I need help with my c-c-calculus homework."

"Oh, okay."

"Do you h-have t-t-time?"

"Yeah, of course. Anything for you. Where would you like to meet?"

"Um… if you d-don't mind, I was t-thinking we could meet at the library in a few minutes. I'm near downtown."

"Okay. I'll see you there!" Cloud said bye before ending the call. The hard part was over. Or at least he thought it was. Sighing, he waited for the clear before crossing the street and heading towards downtown.

He arrived at the library which was nice and quiet. It was three-stories, with a beautifully decorated atrium that was Victorian architecture. He then started to scan the area to find Tifa. However, after a few minutes he couldn't fine her. Perhaps she arrived before him and is waiting for him? Or she is almost here? He started making his way towards the stairs before a voice called out to him; one he instantly recognized.

"Cloud?" Tifa called out. Cloud turned around to see where her voice had come from. When he set his gaze on her, it took every bit of strength he had to not have his jaw drop. Tifa had dressed in dark blue jeans and a teal colored shirt for school, but what she was wearing now made her look absolutely stunning. She was wearing tights, which you could see her toned, slender legs through and her nice posterior, if she were to turn around. She wore wine-red colored flip-flops that matched the color of her shirt, which was tight enough to outline the upper area of her body. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and had a little bit of lipstick and eyeliner on.

_Okay, maybe I did make the right decision to ask for help, _Cloud thought to himself as he kept looking at Tifa. She noticed him gaping at her and her cheeks started to grow red. Turning her gaze away from those blue eyes to his body, she noted that he still wore the same clothes that he decided to wear for school today. She was glad he didn't change, for she was able to look at his wonderfully developed arms. She could also see his six-pack and pecs through his tank top. The two had the same colored faces as Tifa broke the silence that sat between them for a few seconds.

"Shall we go find a table and start?"

"Hmm? Oh. Uh… yeah. Sure, uh… yeah, let's… go," Cloud stuttered and choked. Tifa couldn't help but giggle to herself. _He looks so cute when he's embarrassed,_ Tifa thought to herself. The two teens went to find a table, which wasn't a difficult task. The good thing was that this was not a college town, otherwise the place would be packed. There were only two high schools in Nibelheim, which were Nibelheim High School, and Nibelheim Tech. NT was a smaller high school for those who preferred more student interaction. The two sat down next to each other and pulled out their textbooks.

Cloud had a hell of an easier time understanding the material when Tifa explained the problems. At times, he would ask for her to repeat, which made her laugh, but she was patient and made sure he understood the material before quizzing him. He passed with flying colors which made him happy. Cloud had thought that this would've been awkward, but this little study session had actually turned out to be quite fun, and he was sad when it had ended two hours later. Looking back at the great time that the two of them were having, he had wished that they were able to talk about other things rather than schoolwork.

Cloud and Tifa had packed their bags and stood up. Before Tifa could bid her goodbye, Cloud opened his mouth.

"Hey, what say we go and grab a bite to eat? My treat," Cloud spoke.

"That sounds good. Where?" Tifa replied.

"Hmm… perhaps the diner in the center of downtown?"

"Sure, let's go." Tifa gave Cloud a big smile. He looked at the expression on her face, which clearly said, "It's about time you did something." He smiled back, and the two started making their way to the center of town, being only a few minutes away.

Cloud opened the door for Tifa, and she smiled at him before walking into the diner. Cloud followed behind her, as he was looking for a booth to sit at. While he did so, there was a loud conversation going on in the kitchen. The voice belonged to the owner of the diner. Everyone loved him although he was loud. Nobody paid any mind, though.

"Orale, maricon! You didn't get the damn order right! Use su cabesa, puto!" (Damn it, fag! You didn't get the damn order right! Use your head, bitch!)

"Sorry sir, I'll fix it."

"Que dijiste, cabron?!" (What did you say, asshole?!)

"Yes, sir! Fixing it!"

"Alright, gracias." The man turned around to face Cloud and Tifa and a big smile grew on his face. "Ah! Bienvenidos! How are you two doing today?"

"Hey Mr. Valdez," Tifa happily greeted the owner. "Just fine, thank you. How about yourself?"

"Excelente, gracias! Please, sit! I'll have one of these jotos (fags) serve you in a minute."

"Thank you," Cloud said. Cloud and Tifa found and empty booth and sat down. The waiter came by with menus and gave time for the teens to choose what they wanted. The waiter came back and took their orders, as well as their menus. Several minutes later, their food came out, nicely cooked and ready to eat. The teens bid their thanks to the waiter and began eating.

"Hey, Cloud?" Tifa addressed as she was eating."

"Hmm?"

"… Thank you. For taking me out."

"Ah, no problem. It's all good." Cloud flashed a smile at Tifa, which in turn made her smile back. "Hey, so do you know what's up with Aerith? She was acting a little weird around us today. I don't blame her though, after breaking up with Zack." Tifa was a little surprised and disappointed that Cloud had decided to ask about Aerith's well- being instead of hers. She shook the though from her head, as she formulated her answer in her head as she swallowed her food.

"I'm not sure. I will have to talk to her later," came the brunette's response. Cloud simply nodded his head. He took another bite of food, wondering what else they could talk about. Tifa thought of an idea first. "So… are you really leaving for Midgar once the year is over?" Tifa had a look of sadness in her eyes as she stared at the handsome blonde teen in front of her. Cloud noted the sadness, which made his heart ache.

"Yeah…"

"Well… Would it be alright to say… that I'll be waiting?" Tifa had her legs crossed and her palms rested on her lap as she gazed out the window next to the booth. Cloud was surprised that she would say something like that.

"Yeah…"

"Well… I hope we spend some time together before you go…"

"Yeah… me… me too…" _Damn it… she's guilt tripping me, _the blonde thought in his mind.

_Why does he have to leave? I don't want him to go… _

"And how was the food?" Mr. Valdez spoke as he approached the booth.

"Fantastic," Tifa said as she smiled.

"Bueno. Well, would you guys like dessert?"

"Sure. What do you have?"

"Ice cream, milk shakes, pies, and churros."

"Churros?"

"Si. Es muy delicioso. Necesitan pruebelo." (Yes. It's very good. You need to try it.) Cloud and Tifa understood a little bit of Spanish, since they had taken a few courses of the foreign language in their previous years. It was enough for them to understand what Mr. Valdez was saying.

"Alright. Churros then."

"Okay. Hey! Cabrones!"

"What?!" one of the chefs called out from the kitchen.

"I see you just standing there, pendejo! I don't pay you by the hour to have your culo grande just blocking the entrance to the cocina, andale joto! Make these chicos some churros before I give you nalgadas!" (I see you just standing there, asshole! I don't pay you by the hour to have your fat ass just blocking the entrance to the kitchen, hurry up fag! Make these kids some churros before I give you spankings!)

Cloud and Tifa just laughed at all the commotion that went on in the diner, as well as a few of the customers that were at the other tables. They could only imagine what it would be like to work here with Mr. Valdez being their boss. Both chuckled at the thought. A few minutes later, the waiter came back with their churros. The two teens took a bite of the delicious doughy treat that was filled with dulce de leche (which is almost like pudding), with sugar and cinnamon coating the outside of the dough. The churros were downed in a few bites, as the blonde and brunette savored every bit of the wonderfully delicious treat.

"Corrale gordo, corrale! You still gotta make hamburguesas! Jesus Cristo! Ayudame!" (Run fat ass, run! You still gotta make hamburgers! Jesus Christ! Help me!) Cloud laughed before he stood up.

"I think we should go before something bad happens."

"Yeah I agree," Tifa chuckled. She took Cloud's hand as he helped her up from her seat and they paid at the cashier.

"Come back again, lovebirds!" Mr. Valdez called out to the couple as they were leaving the diner. Both teens' faces flushed at Mr. Valdez's sentence, refusing to look at each other to hide their embarrassment.

"Don't they look so cute together?" one of the chefs asked.

"Huh? Manolo, did I say you could stand out here? Get your culo in the kitchen before I kick it all the way across the border!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cloud and Tifa stepped out onto the sidewalk as they looked up into the sky and saw that the sun was being hidden behind that clouds that threatened to bring rain down upon the city.

"Dang, it looks like it's going to rain," the blonde commented.

"Yeah… oh well," Tifa replied with a smile on her face. They started to walk when a few minutes later, they approached a small road that brought back memories. Both of them stopped as they looked down the road. "Hey, let's go this way." Cloud nodded and followed behind her. Only then had it started to rain. It was pouring mildly hard, but Tifa seemed to be enjoying it as she had her arms fanned out and she spun on her feet, looking up and closing her eyes and smiling as the cool droplets of water came into contact with her smooth skin. Cloud could only watch her as she moved gracefully, every muscle in her body relaxing and contracting. He could only stare in awe as she finally stopped and looked over to the blonde, who was looking quite sexy with the rain drenching his tank top, which exposed his upper body. Cloud had removed his wife beater earlier since he thought it was a little hot out today, so he was sporting nothing underneath his tank top, providing Tifa a lovely sight of his well-defined chest and abdomen. Cloud had wished he had at least brought a jacket, since it was starting to freeze a little bit.

"I'm sorry, you're getting wet," Tifa spoke.

"So are you," Cloud responded as he walked over to the brunette. Her eyes came into contact with his before she started to blush. She looked down to notice that Cloud was shivering a little bit. The wind was starting to pick up, thus making it almost seem like winter weather. Tifa opened her bag to give him a jacket, which he denied and told her to put it on. She did so, and also noticed that she had a black scarf in her bag. It wasn't winter, it was fall, so it was a little cold.

"Here," Tifa said as she put the scarf on him and wrapped it around his neck. Her hands them started to run down his pecs, which caused Cloud to blush, but he couldn't hide it. _Holy… damn,_ Tifa thought as she felt the muscles on the blonde's chest. "Better now?"

"Mhmm." Cloud nodded, but he was still shivering.

Tifa laughed and said, "I know it doesn't help much, but I mean… it kinda looks good on you."

"Kinda?" Tifa giggled.

"Yeah. Kinda." Cloud smiled and thought of an idea. He turned around and crouched down, while bending his upper body down and putting his hands toward his back. "Cloud?" Tifa tilted her head and raised in eyebrow in confusion.

"Come on. I'll give you a lift home." Tifa smiled and happily hopped onto Cloud's muscular back. The blonde carried her oh so smooth legs while she wrapped her arms around his neck. She never rested her head on his shoulder once, he noted. Cloud carried Tifa home in silence with the rain pouring down on them.

"Cloud?"

"Hmm?"

"… Do you remember… the first time when you offered to carry me like this?" Tifa's cheeks formed a tinge of pink. _He's so warm… _

"Yeah…"

"We used to walk down this road when we were little."

"Yeah…" Cloud remembered that they always walked down this same road since grade school, but instead of talking like they were now, they would only say hi to each other at most. "I remember that when I carried you home, it was raining like this, and we didn't have an umbrella. I sort of got us lost."

"Haha! Yeah. But that didn't matter. It was… just nice being with you…" Cloud subconsciously couldn't agree more with what the girl on his back said.

Cloud had dropped off Tifa at her house and said goodbye. Looking at his watch he found in his bag, he noted that the time was 4:30 pm. He walked across the street to his house. It was still raining. When Cloud walked in, he took off his Nikes and left them on the carpet as he made his way to the stairs.

"Oh, hi Cloud!" Mrs. Strife greeted her son."

"Oh, hey mom," Cloud replied with a small smile.

"How was your first day?"

"Ah, there was homework, but I got it done."

"Well that's good, sweetie."

"Yeah, thanks for asking." Cloud made his way upstairs to his bedroom as he sat down on his bed and set his bag down onto the floor. He read a book for about an hour at his desk by his window. Only then did he realize that he still had on the scarf that Tifa gave him. He contemplated on giving it to her tomorrow, but she was right across the street! What a lazy bum. He finally decided he would just give her the scarf back. He decided to change his shirt since it was still wet and it would take time to dry. He put on a casual dress shirt with short sleeves that was tight fitting. He then made his way downstairs and put on his Nikes and headed out the door to walk to Tifa's house.

As he approached the house, he took off his scarf and rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, the door opened. Expecting Tifa, he instead came face to face with-

"Mr. Lockhart!"

"Hey son!" Mr. Lockhart exclaimed. "How are you doing?"

"Uh… I-I-I'm good sir, how about y-y-you?"

"I'm good! Thank you! Uh, please! Come in, come in! Don't be shy, now!" That was the problem. He felt shy around Tifa's dad, no matter if he had known him for a while. He hadn't been over in a long time. "Tifa, you have a visitor!" Mr. Lockhart called up the stairs. A few seconds later, the brunette came down the stairs. She stopped midflight when she came in contact with the blonde's eyes. She was surprised to see him. "Have fun you two!" Mr. Lockhart made his leave.

"Cloud? What are you doing here?" Tifa asked.

"Oh. Um… I-I-I just wanted to drop this off to you." Cloud walked to the foot of the stairs and handed Tifa her black scarf.

"Is that all?"

"Yeah…" Cloud turned around to make his way towards the front door when Tifa called out.

"Wait…" Cloud stopped to turn around. "Since you're here, would you like to stay for a while?" The blonde stood in silence as he processed the question. "Can you do that?"

"Yeah… I think I can do that."

** Well, I hope you all enjoyed the second chapter! I will try to post the next one up here this morning. I need sleep! And also, to anyone who reads this that is Latino, my Spanish is a little rusty since I am in the process of learning it. I have gotten compliments on my accent though. I am not Latino, so I am glad people say that I sound good when I speak it. So, if you see a mistake, point it out to me in a PM or review and I will fix it. Thanks! Favorite, follow and review!**

**Quiet Thunder**


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